Homage to Professor Miriam Shlesinger

Professor Miriam Shlesinger passed away on 10 November 2012. As the news of her untimely death is spreading, the extent of the loss is beginning to sink in.

Many alumni and staff members at CETRA have had the tremendous privilege of meeting her and working with her. Miriam was CETRA professor in 2007 and remained a supervisor since, showing unwavering loyalty to CETRA’s project of research training.

Her presence at the 2012 session was one of the things that made it into a memorable occasion, and it sums up so much of what Professor Shlesinger has come to stand for the Translation and Interpreting Studies community more generally. Miriam had been weakened by her illness and needed help to get about. We realized that this would be her CETRA last session. And yet, this knowledge was never more than a subtle subtext to her presence and active involvement in the programme. Hugs were exchanged at the end of the session, knowingly and gratefully, but without sentimentality. Tributes were made during the session, but with the delicate indirectness that poetry and humour afford. The most wonderful thing was to see how Miriam just kept going, making the trip to Leuven, giving the best of herself in many tutorials and leading a seminar on “Corpus-based Studies – What can they tell us about translation and interpreting?”. Her commitment, intellectual vigour, didactic lucidity and rhetorical verve were as strong as ever.

Professor Shlesinger was a very influential scholar. Posterity will remember her for her countless publications, as well as for her achievements as a top interpreter, human-rights campaigner and in other fields. Those who knew Miriam personally will remember the sparkle of her intelligence, her passion for research and justice, her belief in the power of communication, her generosity and deep humanity. Her star will continue to shine for us.